From 'crazy' to 'regret' — here's how Facebook's positions on Russian interference evolved over time

Facebook testified before Congress this week on its
role in allowing Russia to spread propaganda during the 2016
presidential election.CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially described the idea that
Russia could influence the election as "crazy," but has since
said he regrets saying that.Lawmakers have criticized Facebook for being too slow
in addressing Russian propaganda and manipulation on its
platform.

Executives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google testified before
Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday to explain their role in
allowing Russian-backed bots, trolls, and advertisements to flood
social media platforms during last year's presidential campaign.

In written testimony
released prior to the first hearing, Facebook admitted that
Russia-based operatives published about 80,000 posts online
between June 2015 and August 2017 in an attempt to influence the
presidential election. Those posts, Facebook said, may have
reached as many as 126 million Americans.

"These actions run counter to Facebook's mission of building
community and everything we stand for," Facebook General Counsel
Colin Stretch said. "And we are determined to do everything we
can to address this new threat."

In the weeks and months following the election, however, Facebook
didn't appear to be as concerned. Here's how the social network's
stance on Russian election meddling has evolved over time:

November 10, 2016: Mark Zuckerberg dismisses Russia's influence

source

Reuters

Just two days after voters elected President Donald Trump,
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
said there was only a "small amount" of fake news on his
platform.

He also downplayed Facebook's role in influencing
voters.

"To think it influenced the election in any way is a pretty
crazy idea," he said."I do think there is a certain
profound lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason
someone could have voted the way they did is they saw some fake
news."

December 15, 2016: Zuckerberg announces plan to fight fake news

Amid growing criticism, Facebook said it would partner with
fact-checking organizations, including Snopes, ABC News,
Politifact, and FactCheck.org, to combat fake news.

Some free speech activists worried that fact-checking wouldn't be
applied equally to both sides of the political spectrum and that
unpopular opinions could be suppressed.

"I understand how sensitive this is and I have instructed our
team to proceed carefully and focus on fighting spam, not
flagging opinions," Zuckerberg said. "For example, we're focused
on obvious hoaxes with headlines like 'Michael Phelps just died
of a heart attack' designed to get people to click on the stories
and see ads."

January 6, 2017: US intelligence report concludes Russia interfered in the election

caption

Former CIA Director John Brennan.

source

Reuters/Jason Reed

A declassified intelligence report
directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering "an
influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential
election", and concluded that social media played a major role.

"Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US
democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her
electability and potential presidency," the report said.

There was no immediate response from Facebook.

January 18, 2017: Facebook blocks Russian state news network

caption

Donald Trump gives a speech during his inauguration.

source

Getty/Joe Raedle

Just days before Trump's inauguration on January 20, Facebook
temporarily blocked
RT, the Kremlin-backed news organization, from posting links and
other media on its Facebook page.

Russian officials lambasted the
social media company, calling the ban "unacceptable," and warning
of "active countermeasures."

The 72-hour ban was lifted shortly after Trump was inaugurated.
Some pundits wondered whether
this was the beginning of Facebook's efforts to crack down on
groups that share hoaxes and propaganda on its platform.

February 16: The Facebook Manifesto

"It is our responsibility to amplify the good effects and
mitigate the bad - to continue increasing diversity while
strengthening our common understanding so our community can
create the greatest positive impact on the world," he wrote.

April 27: Facebook says it is cracking down on misinformation campaigns

source

Getty/Sean Gallup

The company's security executives announced that they
expanded their security focus "from traditional abusive behavior,
such as account hacking, malware, spam, and financial scams, to
include more subtle and insidious forms of misuse, including
attempts to manipulate civic discourse and deceive people."

The executives also acknowledged that
"these are complicated issues and our responses will constantly
evolve, but we wanted to be transparent about our approach."

July: 'No evidence Russian actors bought Facebook ads'

caption

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner.

source

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Top investigators in the Senate's Russia investigation look to
Facebook for answers about the Kremlin's involvement in spreading
propaganda online. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia says he met with
Facebook officials in California to discuss Russia's election
interference.

Facebook agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

But in a statement to CNN, a
company spokesperson said "we have seen no evidence that Russian
actors bought ads on Facebook in connection with the election."

September 6: Evidence of Russian-backed ads emerges

caption

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

source

Associated Press/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Alex Stamos, Facebook's Chief Security Officer, announced that an
internal review
found that "approximately $100,000 in ad spending ... associated
with roughly 3,000 ads" were likely operated out of Russia.

Stamos added that
the ads violated Facebook's policies because they came from
inauthentic accounts.

This was the first piece of hard evidence that Facebook made
available to the public showing Russia's efforts to manipulate
opinion online.

September 21: Zuckerberg confirms Facebook is fully cooperating with the government

caption

Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

source

Aaron Bernstein/Reuters

In a post on Facebook,
Zuckerberg said the company is actively working with the
government with its ongoing investigations into Russian
interference in the election.

"We have been investigating this for many months, and for a
while we had found no evidence of fake accounts linked to Russia
running ads," Zuckerberg said.
"When we recently uncovered this activity, we provided that
information to the special counsel.

He also said Facebook was looking into other Russian groups,
former Soviet states, and campaigns to further decipher nefarious
activities online.

September 27: Zuckerberg regrets dismissing Russian misinformation

caption

Mark Zuckerberg.

source

Stephen Lam/Reuters

In another Facebook post,
Zuckerberg said he regrets not taking Russian interference
seriously in the beginning.

"After the election, I made a comment that I thought the
idea misinformation on Facebook changed the outcome of the
election was a crazy idea. Calling that crazy was dismissive and
I regret it," Zuckerberg said.
"This is too important an issue to be dismissive."

October 2: 'We take responsibility'

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of global policy, announced he would
be giving 3,000 Russian-linked ads to Congress for review.

He also outlined new policies, including tightening restrictions
on ad content, increasing authenticity requirements, and hiring more than 1,000
people to review and flag improper ads.

"We care deeply about the integrity of elections around the
world," Kaplan said. "We take responsibility for what happens on
our platform and we will do everything we can to keep our
community safe from interference.

October 30: Russian posts on Facebook reached 126 million Americans

caption

Russia's Internet Research Center in St. Petersburg.

source

Viktor Rezunkov/RFE/RL

Just before Facebook was due to testify on Capitol Hill, the
social network revealed that
Russia's Internet Research Agency, a shadowy Russian-backed
company, made 80,000 posts from 2015 to 2017 that reached up to
126 million Americans.

Most of the posts focused on divisive social and political
messages such as race relations and gun rights.

October 31: Facebook testifies before Congress

source

Getty/Drew Angerer

Republicans and Democrats grilled Facebook
executives during a hearing over its lack of response during and
after last year's election. Senators said the social networking
powerhouse had been too slow in exposing Russian propaganda.

"Why has it taken Facebook 11 months to come forward and help us
understand the scope of this problem, see it clearly for the
problem it is, and begin to work in a responsible legislative way
to address it?" Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware asked.

During the hearing, Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch
admitted the
company could have done more early on.

"In hindsight, we should have had a broader lens," Stretch said.
"There are signals we missed."

November 1: The Congressional grilling continues

caption

Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch.

source

Getty

On Wednesday, the general counsels of Facebook, Twitter, and
Google returned to Capitol Hill for two more hearings before the
Senate and the House Intelligence Committees.

During the morning session, Sen. Dianne Feinstein had some
harsh words for the
tech representatives.

"You created these platforms ... and now they're being misused,"
she said. "And you have to be the ones who do something about it
- or we will."

Many political observers, including members of Congress, also
expressed disappointment that the companies' top leaders declined
to publicly answer questions about the serious charge that a
foreign actor used their networks to meddle in the US election.

Sens. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Angus King of Maine were
among those who reprimanded the
companies' CEOs for not showing up.

"I'm disappointed you're here and not your CEOs," King told the
companies' lawyers.